Joseph a



J. A." HARRIS.

Gas Regulator.

No. 63,155. Patented March 26, I867.

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v 'g nh 1g fg$ JOSEPH A. HARRIS, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.- Letters .Patent No. 63,155, dated March 26, 1867.

- IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE EXH USTER 1N GAS wears.

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TO' ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it' known that I, JOSEPH HARRIS, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented an improved Regulator for Gas Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to'the letters of reference marked thereon.

- My invention consists of certain apparatus, fully described hereafter, for so regulating the speed of an exhausting engine, used in connection with gas apparatus, that it shall becommensurate with the duty which it has to perform. Also ofa device described hereafter for permitting the gas to pass 'from the exhausting main to thedischarge pipe, when its usual course is interrupted by'the stoppage of the exhaust fan. v

k In order to enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its constriction and operation, reference being had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this specification, and in which-.-

Figure 1 is a sectional view of my improved regulator for gas apparatus.

l v Figure 2, a plan view of the same and Figures a detached sectional view.- 7 Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The'main or'.exhaust pipe A',- fig. 2, communicates" directly with the gas retorts, and with the discharge pipe 13, leading to the gas reservoir. 0 is a cylindrical vessel, consisting of two casings, between which-is an' annular space, I the latter communicating with the central chamber C of the vessel, through an opening or openings 0. A pipe, 1), from the main pipe A, communicates with the annular vessel It, and is secured to the top of the vessel by a-perfectly' gas-tight joint at f,'fig. 1. Thr.ough the top of the vessel 0 passes vertical rod, g, guided by cross piecesh h 'within thechamber C, and on this rod is a hollow sphere or float, E, the object of which will be rendered apparent hereafter, To a bracket, 2', projecting from the top of the vessel 0, is hung Q alever, F, and one arm of this lever is connected to the rod g, the other arm. being connected by a rod, 7:, to one arm of a lever, G, hung to a rod. or standard, j, and to the other arm of this lever is jointed aro d, H, which is connected by any appropriate devices to, the throttle-valve of a steam engine.- A branch pipe, J, forms a supplementary communication-between the exhaust pipe A and discharge pipe B, and in an enlargement, X, of

L the said pipe J is a valve l, openingto'wards the discharge pipe, fig. 3, for a purpose described hereafter; The

. gas is withdrawn from the retorts through the pipe A, and forced through the pipe 13 by means of an exhausting fan or other equivalent apparatus, as heretofore practised, with a view of producing apartial vacuum in the retorts, and thereby preventing them from leaking. When one or more of the retorts is out'of use, the whole exhaustive power of the fan is exerted upon those remaining in use, from which the gas tar is drawn into'the main A, an objection obviated by my invention, the operation of. which I will now proceed'to describe.

The chamber 0 is partially filled with waterywhich passes throughtheopen'ings 0 into the annular space 6. Supposing that one hundred feet of gas per minute is drawn from four retorts through the pipe A, and the charge of one of these retorts has to be drawn while the fun continues to'bedrivcn at the same speed as when the four retorts were in use, the exhaustive power-of the fan would be excessive on the remaining-retorts but for'the pipe D, by which the annular space b in the vessel C is. made open to the exhaust, the latter causing the water being so-communicutcd to the throttle-valve of the engine that the speed of the latter, and consequently the g in the said space 6 to rise, and that in the chamber C to fall, the float E falling with it, and its movement exhaustive power .of the fan, must be reduced. When the fourth retort is again in use the water in the annular space I; will fall and rise in the chamber 0, thereby so acting on the throttle-valve that the engine will resume 5 its former speed. It will be seen, therefore, that by the useof the above-described apparatus the exhaustive power of the fan must always be commensuratewith'the duty which it has to perform. If by any accident the motion of the fan is suddenly stopped and the course of the gas obstructed, the latter will passthrough the branch pipe J, raise the valve Z, and enter the discharge pipe 13. But when the pipe .is in operation thevalve' Zhas a tendency to remain shut, and the gas must be drawn towards the fan in its usual course. It will be evident thut thc form of the vessel C and its chamber Cmay be modified without departing from. the main feature of the invention, and that the devices fortransferring the motion of the float to the throttle-valve of the engine will depend upon the peculiar construction of the latter and upon its situation in respect to-the regulator.

I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 7 1. The within-described regulator, consisting of a vessel. enclosing two chambers partly filledwith water, communicating with each other, and one chamber communicating with the main pipes, through which'gcs is exhausted from the retorts, while the other chamber has a float connected to the throttle-valve of the steam engine which drives the fan or other exhausting device, all substantially as set forth.-

2. The branch pipe J, its enlargement X, and valve '1, arranged in respect to the exhausting main and discharging pipe, substantia-l1y as described for the purpose specified. I

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH A. HARRIS.

Witnesses:

H. Howsou, .JonN WHITE. 

